What Happened?
by Arnodwyling
Summary: Andy was a hardworking student in a small-town high school who hoped to go to college someday. Until one day, when she was walking home from cheer practice, her whole life changed after one little bite. Who did this to her? Why would they bite her and leave her like that? She hopes to find answers with the help of her new family, the Cullens.
1. Chapter 1

_Predators eat their prey. _I typed, beginning my paper. _Animals eat plants, and bigger animals eat those animals. Predators eat their prey. That's how it works. _

My paper was about whether or not it was inherently wrong to eat meat. It seemed to be a popular subject. What inspired me to write it was the increasing number of annoying vegans at my school. I mean, they were shaming people for eating meat in a small town surrounded by forest. Hunting was not uncommon. For some low-income families, they depended on it. Why were these kids going around acting like eating meat was the most immoral thing one could do? I wished they'd all move to Seattle already with the other liberals.

If some day, I were to become the prey, that's fine, I'd be too dead to be mad about it.

I finished my paper, in MLA format with sources cited. I felt pretty good about this paper. If I'd ever written a perfect paper before, it was this one. But it was sure to piss off some of the kids in my literature class.

I show up to class the next day, and we were all told to draw names from a hat, to partner up and discuss our papers. I was paired with Emmett Cullen. He wrote his paper about the rising cost of college. His paper was very well written, almost as though this was his job. He could write newspapers, if he wanted to. How could a high schooler be this good at research papers?

"I must say," he said after reading mine. "I don't agree, but this is a well written paper and you present your arguments well."

"You don't agree? Oh, don't tell me you're one of them vegans. Big athletic man like you?" I replied. He chuckled.

"Oh, I'm not one of them, don't worry. But I am on a very particular diet."

"Of course you are. You are probably body builder or something. Well, as long as you don't go shaming me for having a burger, you're cool."

"Your burger, your business." He smiled.

"So what do you not agree with then?" I asked.

"The idea that predators will always go after their prey. Vegetarians are a fine example of some predators being able to outthink their instincts."

"Sure, but that's not what I'm arguing. I'm arguing it's not immoral not to."

We talked about each other's papers and arguments until the end of class. It was quite an interesting discussion, but I was still left unsure of where he stood on the issue. I found myself wondering what this 'particular' diet of his was.

Come to think of it, I'd never seen him or his family eat anything at lunchtime, or ever, really. They must all be on this special diet. So perhaps it wasn't an athletic thing, but a family thing? Maybe they were part of some weird religion or something with dietary restrictions. I knew they were all adopted, in fact, they were dating each other, so it definitely wasn't some hereditary allergy or intolerance.

It didn't matter to me. So long as people weren't eating people, it was none of my business what they were eating.

After school, I had cheer practice. Cheer was always really fun, being tossed into the air, the choreography of the cheers. It was a lot of fun. People were surprised I'd joined because I wasn't very preppy. But it didn't matter to me, it was a sport that I enjoyed.

After cheer practice, my mother texted me that she was running late to pick me.

"Forget it, I'm walking." I replied, and began my trudge through the rain. It had been raining for three days now, and today's rain was pretty heavy. But I was used to it. I had grown up here in the North West. It was weird if it _wasn't_ raining this time of year.

I was halfway home when suddenly, something stung me. Or bit me, maybe? Whatever it was, it hurt, and the pain of it was spreading, until I was feeling it all over my body. The pain of it had me on the ground, unable to move. It was just too much. I felt I should probably call someone for help, but even that was too much. The pain was crippling, and I could barely move. I was probably going to die. I'd have to accept that whatever stung or bit me or whatever would be the cause of my death. These were my last moments. And I just could not wait for the end.

It felt like it had gone on forever, but eventually the pain stopped. It was darker. I had probably been out of it for a few hours, at least. Mom was probably worried sick. I dug out my phone, but it had died. Damn iPhones that don't even last the day.

I dug out my power bank and plugged it in. I sat and stared at the stupid device, waiting for it to turn on. I was going to call my mom and tell her I was scared and to come get me. Until I smelled a scent so sweet, it took over me. I ran towards it. Whatever the scent was, it was going to be mine. I had to have it, have all of it.

Forget the world. Forget everything. I had to consume whatever the scent was coming from.

I finally got to the source. Nothing else mattered. I failed to notice anything in the world besides this sweet, sweet taste in my mouth. It was the most delicious and satisfying experience I'd ever had.

Then it disappeared. It ran out. And finally, I realized what it was. And what I'd done.

It was a man. A park ranger. I'd bit him. I'd killed him. He was the source of that smell. I'd had a delightful and satisfying experience, feeding on him, but at the cost of his life. What had come over me? Why would I do such a thing?

I ran back to my stuff, as fast as I could, grabbed it, and ran back. The full trip must have taken me less than two minutes, even though my stuff had been more than a mile away. Feeling guilty, I found an opening in the trees, and lit the man's body on fire. No one would ever know what I'd done. I would take this to the grave. A place I kind of wished I was. I couldn't believe I had done such an awful thing. This man did not deserve this.

I didn't know what it was, but ever since the pain stopped, I felt more alive. More alert. I could see the world clearer. I could see the dust particles in the air as though looking at them through a magnifying glass. I could hear for miles. And my nose was picking up all kinds of crazy scents, some scents almost made trails. It was kind of amazing, but I didn't want it. Not if it meant I was going to accidentally kill people.

I was debating whether or not I should go home. What if I got there and did this to my mom? I was scared. Scared of myself. Maybe I was supposed to just wander around the forest until someone found me. I had to starve eventually, right? Maybe they'd find my body and my mother could get closure without knowing what I'd done. All I knew was that I had to stay away from other people, for now.

My phone finally turned on. I had 48 texts from my mother, and 50 missed calls. I wanted so bad to respond. She was so worried. But maybe it was best I didn't.

I took my phone, and threw it as far as I could. Which turned out to be pretty far. It could have gone a few miles!

I left the rest of my stuff right where I was, all except my lighter.

A few days passed, and I didn't feel sleepy at all. I didn't sleep once. It was so strange, usually I didn't feel rested without over-sleeping.

Eventually, I encountered a man who smelled more like me than that man I killed. He smelled sweet like a fragrance rather than like a meal. He was blond, probably 30, with golden eyes.

"Girl, you seem lost. Are you okay?" He sounded concerned.

"I...know where I am." I said. I wasn't lost in the geographical sense, but in the sense of not knowing what was going on.

"You're that girl who has been missing for a week. I'm guessing you weren't like this before you went missing, am I correct?"

"Like what?" Like...a mess? Had I really been missing for a whole week? I must have been out of it longer than I'd thought.

"Well, you're a vampire now." He explained. "How long have you been like that?"

It sounded insane, but made so much sense. "Is that what's happened to me?" I asked, scared, but feeling as though I could trust him.

He explained to me exactly the things I'd experienced. Then said he could help me not kill again. I agreed to come with him. He introduced himself as Carlisle, and I told him my name was Andy. Of course he knew that, as I was all over the news.

I followed him to his car, a mercedes in very good condition. I got in the passenger's seat, and he got into the driver's seat. He texted someone, then he started driving.

"Alright, now. A lot of us live at our house. One of my family members is only half vampire, and half human. I told Bella to take her to her other house, but her scent will still be there. It's going to make a new vampire like yourself very thirsty. Don't go after the scent. It will be difficult, but you can do it. You can resist. You'll get the hang of it, I promise." He explained as he drove. "But first, let's hunt."

"Wait, how is a half vampire even possible?"

"It's complicated. I'll explain later. Let's just hunt."

"Hunt?"

"As I said before, my family and I live only off of animals. I will show you how to feed. And it will be easier to control yourself if you are not thirsty."

I was very thirsty. I had been for a two days now. I felt as though my throat was on fire. "That sounds nice." I mumbled.

"Yes, your eyes are very dark. I can tell it's probably been a few days, right?"

"You can tell that from my eyes?"

He nodded as he parked his car. Then he motioned for me to follow, and we ran into the forest. He sniffed the air. "Smell that?" he said. "Smells like a bear." He ran towards the smell. I followed. He effortlessly slammed the angry bear to the ground like it was nothing, and he kept his hand on it, holding it down. The bear roared and roared, trying to intimidate him. It was quite amazing to see this seemingly gentle man overtake such a beast. If he could do it, and walk away without a scratch, then could I?

Carlisle bit the bear, and in a few moments, the bear went from fearsome to limp.

"Woah." I said, amazed. "You just...killed a bear with your bare hands." He laughed.

"Oh yes, we are very powerful. You'll be amazed at the things you see. Your turn."

"You want me...to do that? I don't think I can. What if I get hurt?"

He chuckled, and put his hand on my shoulder. "You won't. They can't possibly hurt you. It takes a lot of strength to take one of us down. Just...go for it."

I decided to trust the man. I sniffed the air. There was a rich smell, coming from the north. It didn't smell as sweet or as satisfying as the park ranger, but it certainly didn't smell bad. Actually pretty appealing, as thirsty as I was. I ran towards it, letting my instincts take over. I wanted it. I needed it.

The source of the scent was an elk. I pushed it down ferociously, accidently crushing some of its bones. I bit, deep into its neck, accidently choking it with my jaw. I managed to drink all of its blood, but I made a bit of a mess. I wasn't as graceful as Carlisle.

"I'm a mess." I stated, when I was finished.

"Yeah, you'll get better at this." he assured me.

We hunted a few more animals before going back to his car and heading to his house.

There was a faint, fragrant and appealing smell that burned my throat. It was both sweet like that park ranger, and sweet like the scent of Carlisle. This must be the scent of the 'half vampire' he told me about. I wanted to go after it, every instinct in my body told me to consume it. But I didn't want to kill again. This is what he'd meant when he told me to control myself. So I did. I did not chase the smell.

I entered the house and was greeted by very familiar faces. I knew all of these kids already. Their faces just looked so much clearer to me now, but these were definitely the same Cullen family I had gone to school with. It was insane...I had just spoken to Emmett a few days ago…

Then the realization hit me like a ton of bricks, this is what he'd meant by 'special diet'. The things he said to me in that discussion all made sense to me now. The Cullen family...they were vampires. And now, was I one of them? I guess I was staying with them for a while.

I just couldn't believe these kids I thought I knew had such a big secret. There was so much I had wrong. They weren't really foster kids, they were like a clique. A clan. They were a clan. They had all came together because they wanted to not kill people. I clan of harmless vampires. Not a foster family.

They all smiled at me. "We have a new pet!" Emmett joked.

"Well, we're glad you're okay, Andy." Rosalie said. She was always kind of a sweetheart, even if she kind of seemed stuck up from a distance.

"Um, thanks." I said, still a bit shocked.

"You know her?" Asked Carlisle.

"She goes to school with us. Well, went."

"Do I not get to go to school anymore?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to stay under the radar for a while. I'm so sorry." Carlisle said, seeming regretful.

"So what happened to her? Why is she like this now?" Edward asked.

"I don't know...Andy, do you know who turned you?"

I shook my head, remembering that moment. It was kind of fuzzy to me now...I was walking home, wasn't I? It was dark out, it was raining. It was definitely raining. All I really remembered was walking one moment, and being in crippling pain the next.

"I don't know who or why." I mumbled. Could I be an accident? Why would someone want to turn _me_, a harmless teenage girl?

"It's okay. All that matters is that it happened, and we will help you as much as we can." Edward assured me, seeming to sense that I felt a little lost.

"Common." Said a small, beautiful, caramel-haired woman. "We have this gorgeous guest room. We can make it your room!" She grabbed my hand and led me up the stairs. There was a big picture frame filled with graduation caps. "What's with this? Wait a minute-do these kids just do high school over and over again?"

"Yes, mostly."

"Why though? Why wouldn't they get jobs or go to college?" I asked, as we kept walking through the house.

It was a beautiful house. A lot of windows. Wait, what about sunlight? What happens to us in sunlight? With all these windows in here, they must be exposed to a lot of it, so it can't hurt us, right?

I could hear Edward chuckling from downstairs.

"Well, sometimes they do, but we can't really stick with one thing for too long. People will get suspicious if they notice we aren't aging...Also, they have to find a job they can be sure they won't be in the sun for, of course."

"Oh, right," I started. "I guess that's why they ditch when the sun is out. Wait though...what exactly happens in the sun?"

Don't tell me I don't get to go out into the sun anymore. Please don't tell me I'm going to catch on fire. Please.

She gave me a look, then smiled. "I guess you haven't experienced that yet, huh?"

She led me to one of the house's big windows, and opened the curtains. The sun was beginning to rise. Terrified, I looked down at myself as the morning sun rays hit my skin. My skin was...sparkling. Almost like there were diamonds under my skin. It was beautiful. I was beautiful. I looked at my sparkling hands in amazement.

"Alright you, your room is over here." said the woman.

"What's happening? Why am I sparkly?"

"That's what happens to vampires in the sun. We don't die, we just sparkle!"

"Wow!" I murmured, entertained. Then I finally followed the woman to the guest room.

"By the way, I'm Esme." She said. "And I take it your name is Andy?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Thank you for being so welcoming."

"Oh no it's my pleasure." She said. "Feel free to settle in and let us know if you need anything." Then she left. I could hear her walking down the stairs.

I sat on the bed, which I guess is useless to me now. Carlisle said vampires don't sleep. But I sat down on it anyway. I sat down and just took everything in. It had been a crazy week, and I still couldn't believe it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, here are your things." Said Carlisle, placing all my favorite things in my room. He essentially had to rob my mother's house, but I wanted all my books and video games and all that, so he got them for me. He wanted me to feel at home here.

"Thank you." I said, grabbing my Seaside sweatshirt from one of the boxes. I gave it a sniff. The scent sure smelled like a human, and was very tempting. But there was no living source of it. The source was my shirt. Actually, I realized, the source had to be me. This is what I used to smell like when I was human.

What a change I've gone through. There was so much I didn't know about the world before. Last time I wore this sweatshirt, I didn't know anything of vampires. I thought the Cullens were just a weird family that had transferred from Seattle or something. My view of the world was just so different. I was so innocent. And I kind of missed it.

To think I'd never again enjoy a midday nap or wrap myself in blankets to keep warm. I'd never grow old or have children. I never would have expected my life to change in the ways that it did.

I put the sweatshirt on. It was one of my favorites. I was with my friends during summer break when I got it. We all drove down to Oregon and camped along the beautiful Oregon coast in a town called Seaside. Seaside had this ice cream shop that was just the best.

I'd probably never be able to enjoy ice cream again. It wouldn't hurt to eat it, but it couldn't be the same. It didn't even sound appealing anymore.

"Thank you, for everything." I said softly. He smiled at me, and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm glad I could help." He nodded and left the room.

I sat down in the sofa they had replaced the bed with, and rested my feet on the armrest. I turned on the TV they gave me, and turned on the news. They were playing tribute to that missing park ranger. The one I'd killed. They were searching for him, but he was presumed dead. They interviewed his family. He had a wife and three kids. His youngest was six. They all seemed so sad! And it was all my fault.

I felt an unbearable guilt, like my chest was full of rocks.

These kids lost their father. And it could have been prevented. It can never be undone. I wished I hadn't have burned the body. At least they could have gotten closure if they had found it. I couldn't imagine what they were going through, what I'd put them through.

I found that I'd planted my face deep into my hands when I heard a knock at my door. I looked up and tried to act normal. I didn't want these people to know what I'd done and not like me anymore. Because I needed their help to not do it again.

"Come in." I said, trying, and failing, to sound cheerful.

Edward walked in and softly closed the door behind him. He sat down next to me, giving me a strange look. "How are you?" he asked, sounding concerned. Almost like he knew something was off.

"I'm okay." I lied. "News is bumming me out is all."

He leaned into my ear, and in a comforting whisper, said "I know it was you. I can read minds."

Took me a minute to really process what he'd just said. I couldn't believe it. It had to be a practical joke, right?

"I'm not joking." He said aloud. "I can really read minds."

I felt my face slam into my hands again, and all I could say was that I was sorry. I apologized a few times, but it was pointless. I wanted to apologize to the ranger's family, but there was no way for me to do that.

"It's okay." He put his hand on my back. "Well, I mean, we've all made mistakes. But we're glad you're here. We're glad you are _trying._"

"I-I took their father away, I-I-" I stuttered. I felt so guilty. I didn't care if it was on purpose or on accident or anything. All that mattered is the result and that it was my fault.

"Look, Andy, I know how you feel." He began. And explained what he'd done. He'd killed people too, a lot more than I had. And told me that those kids will always miss their father, but they'd be alright. He reminded me that most of the vampires in the house had done something they'd regretted, but that they all learned to do better. Somehow, this all made me feel a little better.

Wow, to think this kid I thought was just a simple classmate had killed people. Was actually older than my grandmother. Could read minds. Wait, what?

I'd been so distracted by my guilt that I kind of missed that part. "Wait a second, you read minds?" I asked, shocked. "How is that possible?"

He half-smiled. "I can read everyone's mind. I don't mean to, it just happens. Except for Bella's. She's a shield."

"A what?"

"Okay, let's take a step back. Some vampires have unique powers. Alice can see the future, my daughter can-"

"Woah, what? You have a _daughter_? Just a few days ago, I thought you were a normal teenager like me…"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure Carlisle told you about the half vampire that lives here sometimes? That would be my daughter, Renesmee."

"Wow, that's just wild!" Carlisle never did explain how such a thing could happen. Vampire children. That must require some specific circumstances.

"Yeah, I was surprised it was possible too." He said.

"So you're definitely not just some teenager I guess. You're a dad and stuff."

"Well, she's kind of fully grown. I mean, she was born 13 years ago, but she grew up faster than humans do. She's an adult."

"Wow." Was all I could say. I'd taken in a lot of information in the past few days. My whole world was completely different than how I thought it was. "So, does she do anything like go to school?"

"She's going to college in Seattle. She's extremely intelligent."

"You sound proud of her." I felt myself smile, and he smiled back.

"I am extremely proud. And amazed."

"It's kind of an amazing situation, sounds like."

He just nodded.

"Well anyway," he started. "Some vampires have unique abilities."

"That's pretty cool, I'll admit. I mean, at first I was pretty freaked out by everything. Like, really freaked out. I did not like it. But you're making this world of vampires sound...not so terrible."

"I'm glad I'm helping." He chuckled.

We hung out for a little while and watched the news. I silently wondered if I had a unique ability.

Then a thought occurred to me. If I had superhuman speed and strength now, I bet I was _fantastic_ at dancing. Dancing was one of my favorite things to do. But there wasn't enough room in this room to dance. Oh, and I'd need my playlist. Which was lost with my phone, probably. I mean, I'm supposed to be playing dead anyway, so even if I could access it, it would look strange if I did. I'd have to start from scratch.

Edward ran out of the room and came back with a macbook. He knew what I was thinking. Pretty convenient. "Thanks." I muttered as I logged into the guest account. He left me to it.

I immediately started making a playlist in Apple Music, which luckily he had a subscription for. I started it with one of my favorite artists to dance to, Kinde Rey. Her music always had a very good beat. Then I collected music from some of my other favorite artists, and some 80's Pop hits, and so on. I just kept looking around for more and more music, until I had a playlist of 200 songs.

I always had fun finding new music. Dancing was kind of a passion of mine. I kind of wanted to go pro, but my father had always disapproved of it. Not of dancing itself, dancing was a healthy past time. But he thought it should be just that, a past time. A hobby. Nothing more. It wouldn't make a stable job.

He wasn't in my life much, my parents had divorced when I was 3, when he fell for some Austrian woman. He got married to her a month after the divorce, and moved to Boston. I'd never met his new wife, and didn't even know if they had kids together. He refused to tell me anything about his life with her, saying it wasn't my business, and not to visit.

Sure, with him being so distant, you'd think his opinion wouldn't matter to me. But he was the one who was planning to pay for my education. He always sent me expensive birthday gifts, and gave my mother money for my school supplies. He was pushing me to be a success. And, maybe if I was a success, he'd want to be in my life more. We used to be close, until he moved, and I really missed that. That woman, I believe her name was Vikki, ruined everything. I'd maybe seen my father five times since the divorce.

It took me a moment to realize that none of it mattered now, since I was essentially dead to the world. I could do whatever I wanted with my life, since I wouldn't be speaking to anyone I knew again anyway. It was empowering to know that my father would never know what I do, but also sad. Maybe I was even a little disappointed that I no longer had the chance to impress or disappoint him. I would never have the chance to make him proud. I could only hope he would miss me, maybe even regret not being around.

Even with this bittersweet realization, I still felt the pressure he'd put on me. I still wanted to do what would have made him proud. I still wanted to be someone worthy of being his daughter. But also, I wanted to be myself. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do now. Maybe I'd just go to high school a hundred times, like the rest of the 'kids' in this family. I suppose I had forever to decide who I was going to be. It was kind of amazing to be free of the pressure put on teens to know what they wanted to do with their lives.

For now, all I knew was it was that dancing was the hobby I was most passionate about. I was never going to stop dancing, and now I had the strength and endurance to do dances I couldn't before. Who cares if I was going to make this my job someday or not? I was still processing what was happening now, I didn't need to worry about my future.

"Edward," I said, walking down the stairs with his macbook. "Have you got a speaker I can use?"

He smiled at me, and handed me a nice quality bluetooth speaker, which looked like it was made for outdoor use.

"It's Emmett's, so return it to him when you are done."

"Thank you." I said, and went outside. It was dry outside, it appeared that the sun may even come out. There was a lot of space on the property that I could use for dancing. It couldn't be more perfect. I was going to have the dance of my life.


End file.
